Telangana urges Centre to raise parboiled rice quota for Rabi season
Hyderabad: Telangana Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister Capt N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Saturday urged the Centre to increase the state’s parboiled rice quota by an additional 10 to 12 lakh metric tonnes (LMT). This request was made under Rabi procurement for the Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2024–25. The request was made during a meeting with Food Corporation of India (FCI) Chairman and Managing Director Ashutosh Agnihotri at the state Secretariat.
The Minister stated that while the Centre has approved a total target of 30 LMT of boiled rice for KMS 2024–25, including both Kharif and Rabi crops, Telangana has already delivered 17.06 LMT of parboiled rice. It has also delivered 0.87 LMT of raw rice. However, 2.34 LMT of parboiled and 14.26 LMT of raw rice remain pending.
Reddy stressed that the ongoing Rabi season is more conducive to parboiled rice procurement. He warned that limited quota and infrastructure challenges were affecting operations. He pointed out that rice millers were reluctant to participate in procurement due to stockpile issues and lack of space.
The Minister also highlighted logistical bottlenecks, reporting a 13.5 LMT shortfall in rake-based rice transport from January to November 2025 compared to the same period last year. This has led to congestion in FCI godowns and delays in Custom Milled Rice (CMR) deliveries.
Telangana seeks storage support and transport relief
To address the mounting backlog, Reddy sought a 60-day extension to the CMR delivery deadline under KMS 2024–25 (Kharif), which ended on 12 November 2025. He said around 2.27 LMT of rice remains undelivered due to ongoing procurement and insufficient storage.
Currently, the state uses about 65 LMT of warehousing capacity through the State and Central Warehousing Corporations. All of this capacity is occupied. The Minister said FCI was unable to hire new godowns due to the lack of rail connectivity and infrastructure.
To ease this bottleneck, Reddy requested that FCI sanction 15 LMT of additional storage under central schemes. He also requested to revive the Private Entrepreneurs Guarantee (PEG) scheme in Telangana. He proposed a usage model guaranteeing two years by the state and six years by FCI to incentivise private investment.
Additionally, he urged FCI to ensure the monthly transport of at least 0.5 LMT of parboiled rice from Telangana for the next four months. This is to free up space for new procurement and reduce pressure on godowns and mills.
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